It needs a new blade. There is currently no fence or miter slots and the table top doesn’t look like it is 100% flat, definately not smooth, at the moment. Could I put on a new top (on top of the existing)?, maybe out of quality ply to give a smooth surface (and put a couple of miter slots in) and somehow fix up an adjustable fence.Thanks in advance for your input

Simon

-- If it's not right, it's wrong

15 replies so far

id probably just make a complete cab base for itwith a section for the saw to fit in(with new solid top as you described)and an aftermarket fence at 95 mils (roughly 3 5/8”)you would still have almost 3” of cut depth(that’s all i get on my unisaw)

great score

and the price is right

lucky you

-- david - only thru kindness can this world be whole . If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure. Dan Quayle

I would pass on it for a table saw but get it anyways just for the motor and parts and possible the stand to be used for other things. As for the table saw part you would have to put money into it and may thoughts are its good money for bad. Used your money to buy a better saw as you will find out you will have just as much money into it as buying something else and something that has a resale value to it for later upgrades.

That’s the kind of saw that gets chucked in the back of a transit van and lugged around to construction sites for rough cutting roofs and joists.Not sure how precise it would be for finer work, by the time you’ve got it tuned and a fence and some kind of miter fence, you might be as well buying just a a small cabinet saw.

If you are the type of woodworker that spends hours truing up the souls of his planes to .000000000000001” flatness or spends half an hour using a calibrated electronic engineers square to set up for each cut… then I wouldn’t bother…. But with some fun (some might consider it work), I bet you could get a saw that could cut with a 1/64” accuracy or better.

I tend to agree with the premise that some things actually should be allowed to pass into history. This might be one of those things. Sure it could be made to run and probably run reasonably well, however, I know that I would not enjoy working with such a tool. Not trying to be a tool snob, just trying to be practical. There is nothing visually pleasing about neither form nor function, so I would personally pass on this. Just my opinion…

.....hmmmm, maybe I need to rethink my position after reading HorizontalMike’s post.

I was concentrating on the fun of the build and the possible results. The possible result might not be a practical result. If it was a real pain to use you might give up on tablesaws all together,if you give up on table saws, you might give up on woodworking all togetherif you give up on woodworking, you might spend more time bothering your wife/girlfriendif you spend more time bothering your wife/girlfriend, she may make you go antiquing,If you go antiquing, you might decide you like the needlepoints they are selling,if you decide you like needlepoint, you might take it up as a hobby!if you take up needlepoint as a hobby, you might start hanging out drinking tea with little old ladiesif you drink tea with little old ladies, you might spill and burn youself.

Thanks for all the responses. I have decided it will be going in the boot of my car tomorrow. I have a lot of the materials I may need already and can get hold of / have made anything else at a reasonable price. My next days off will be spent investigating, stripping down the saw (I know the motor runs) and rebuilding. It’ll be a fun project to spend the next few weeks on. I’ll try and remember to take a few in progress photos and let you all know how it goes. Worst case it is a free 4hp motor for use on something else.

That’s a European style of portable saw. North Americanshave barely seen such things. As mentioned, it canplunge from below like a “jump saw”, which is a productiontool. The large blade diameter allows long and heavybeams to be clamped to the table and cut by raising theblade.

The miter gauge and fence tend to be rudimentaryfixtures which ride or clamp to rails on the left side of thetable and the front.

Well it is not yet complete, I still have a fence to sort out (currently using a clamping straight edge) and I have plans for a cross cut sled and blade guard (including some form of extraction port). Here are some pictures of progress so far:First job – remove the old legs

Then add a new frame (chunky 3” legs)

Then a new top

The top is made of a sheet of 3/4” ply topped with a 1/8” sheet of MDF to give a really smooth top. Two mitre slots added (t-track to be added soon) and a zero clearence insert.So far it has only been used to cut plywood but has performed well.Accuarcy – On a 3’ length of ply the thickness of the cut piece varied less than 0.02” across the whole length.Cost – (£30 for wood I hadn’t already got, £35 for a new 400mm Bosch optiline (60 teeth) blade giving an 75mm cut depth)